Spring-hinge



(No Modeh E. E' MASTERS.

I SPRING HINGE.

No. 583,536. vPatented June 1,1897.

Y. llunl EI E2. V l

UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

EGBFRT E. MASTERS, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

SPRING-HINGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Letters Patent N0. 583,536, dated J' une 1, 1897.

Application filed June 13, 1896.

To all whom t may concern'.

Be it known that I, EGBERT E. MASTERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento and State of California, have invented a new and useful Hinge, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to hinges adapted for use in connection with doors, gates, and similarclosures, and particularly to that class .of spring-hinges wherein the swinging leaf is elevated by a cam or screw connection to raise the closure as it is opened and allow it to descend as it is closed.

The object in View is to provide means whereby the point of repose of the hinge may be adjusted to vary the point in its rotary movement at which the vertical movement of the swinging leaf terminates.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a butt-hinge constructed in accordance with my invention, the leaves being folded or closed together to occupy parallel planes. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same with the leaves open or arranged in a common plane. Fig. 3 is an elevation with the parts arranged as shown in Fig. l, the hingepin being arranged to elevate the swinging leaf. Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken in the plane of the axis of the hinge-pin.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

l and 2 designate, respectively, the fixed and swinging leaves of a butt-hinge provided with registering eyes ln and 2a, engaged by the axial hinge-pin 3, which is shouldered, as

at 4, above the uppermost eye 1a to prevent accidental displacement. The hinge-pin is threaded or provided with cam-faces 5 to coperate with corresponding threads or camfaces ,in the eye 2zt of the swinging leaf, whereby as said leaf is swung from the position shown in Fig. l to that shown in Fig. 2 it is elevated to raise the closure supported by the hinge and thus remove the lower edge of said closure from contact with the floor or Serial No. 595,410. (No model.)

other surface above which it operates. It is obvious that the weight of the swinging member or leaf, together with that of the closure supported thereby, is sufficient, under ordinary circumstances, to cause the leaf l to swing from the open position shown inFig. 2 to the folded or closed position' shown in Figs. l aud 3; but in order to insure this folding or closing operating of the swinging member or leaf I preferably interpose an actuatingspring (i vbetween the eye 2a and the uppermost eye la, whereby the swinging member is depressed when released.

By rotating the hinge-pin independently of the members of the hinge the swinging member may be elevated or depressed with relation to the iixed member to correspondingly adjust the closure and bring its lower edge in close contact with the sill without causing unnecessary friction, such adjustment serving to compensate for wear, shrinkage, and the like, and maintain a sufficiently-tight joint between the lower edge of the closure and the sill to exclude air, rain, and snow, and thus dispense with weather-strips and equivalent devices. If this hinge-pin is adjusted to elevate the movable leaf to such a point that it is adapted to reach a position parallel with the stationary leaf before the eye 2n comes in contact with the lowermost eye la, the gravity of the closure, together with the tension of the actuating-spring', will cause the closure to be closed when released; but if it is desired to cause the closure to reach a point of repose (so far as a vertical movement is concerned) before it is closed, or while it is more or less open, the hinge-pin should be adjusted to cause the eye 2a to come in contact with the lowermost eyey la before the swinging leaf reaches the limit of its closing movement, or before it reaches its position parallel with the stationary leaf. This arrangement of the pointof repose of the hinge at an intermediate point of the swinging movement of the leaf 2 does not forml a stop for the swinging leaf, however. The closure may be swung in either direction from this point of repose, but the closing movement thereof is accomplished without vertical movement, inasmuch as the eye 2iL rotates upon the upper end of the lowermost eye la, and all of the weight of the swinging leaf and IOC) the closure attached thereto is carried by said lowermost eye P.

Various means may be employed for securing the hinge-pin at the desired revoluble adjustment, but in the drawings I have illustrated a simple and eiiicient construction wherein a set-screw 7 is threaded in a transverse socket or openin g in the hin ge-pin near its upper end and extends through a horizontal slot S in the uppermost eye ln of the stationary member. After loosening this setscrew the hinge-pin may be turned in either direction to arrange the leaves vertically in the desired relative positions and then may be permanently secured by again tightening the set-screw.

The advantage derived from the use of the revolubly adjustable hinge-pin lies in the fact that it provides for maintaining the closure normally in a partially or wholly open position without in any way interfering with the movement of the closure in either direction from this point of repose to either close or open the same. In arranging the parts to hold a closure in a partially-open p0- sition it is necessary to adjust the hin ge-pin of only one hinge to cause the eye on the swinging member of said hinge to reach its point of repose, so far as vertical movement is concerned, when the closure is at the desired point of its swing. The moment the swinging eye of one of the hinges reaches a point of repose it relieves the other hinge of the Weight of the closure, and hence renders inoperative the coacting cam-faces without in any way interfering with the movement of the closure in either direct-ion from said point of repose.

In addition to serving as a means for securing the hinge-pin at the desired adjustment with` relation to the stationary leaf of the hinge the set-screw operates' as a means for preventing displacement of the hinge-pin or the disengagement thereof from the registering eyes of the leaves. Said screw must be removed in order to allow the hinge-pin to be withdrawn to disconnect the leaves.

From the above description it will be seen that the lowermost eye 1L forms a permanent stop to limit the vertical movement of the swinging leaf by being arranged in the path of the eye 2, said stop not interfering with the rotary movement of the swinging leaf, but, on the other hand, serving as a bearing therefor.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a hinge, the combination of leaves having registering eyes, a hin ge-pin engaging said eyes and provided with screw or cam faces cooperating with corresponding faces in the eye of the swinging leaf, and a permanent bearing for limiting the downward movement of the swinging leaf, said hinge-pin being revolubly adjustable to vary the point in the rotary movement of the swinging leaf at which its downward movement is checked by said bearing, substantially as speciiied.

2. In a hinge, the combination of leaves having registering eyes, a revoluble hingepin engaging said eyes and provided with cam-faces cooperating with corresponding faces in the eye of the swinging leaf, a permanent bearing on the fixed leaf for limiting the downward movement of the swinging leaf, and a set-screw threaded in an opening in the hinge-pin and engaging a slot in an eye of the fixed leaf, whereby the hinge-pin may be secured at any desired adjustment to vary the point in the rotary movement of the movable leaf at which its downward movement is cheeked by said bearing, substantially as specified.

3. In a hinge, the combination of stationary and movable leaves having registering eyes, the eye of the movable leaf being arranged between those of the stationary leaf, a hinge-pin revolubly fitted in the eyes of the stationary leaf and threaded in the eye of the movable leaf to form cooperating cam-faces, 9

an actuating-spring interposed between the eye of the movable leaf and the upper eye of the stationary leaf, said eye of the movable leaf being limited in its downward movement by contact with the lower eye of the stationary leaf, and a set-screw engaging the hinge-pin and extending through a slot in one of the eyes of the stationary leaf whereby the hinge-pin may be secured at the desired adjustment with relation to the stationary leaf, said set-screw also serving to secure the hinge-pin against displacement, substantially as specified. i

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EGBERT E. MASTERS.

IVitnesses:

CHAs. R. WiLeoX, H. P. Dow.

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